By Matt Carroll,
At a young age so many players decide on goalkeeper due to their natural athletic ability. They can get to the balls their other teammates cannot, they have good hands so can catch balls other teammates would drop, etc.. The part that most often gets lost in these types of players development is the footwork, the arc drill is designed to give young goalkeepers the opportunity to learn the basics of footwork, but also to start introducing angles for shot-stopping.
The drill starts with a very simple setup of cones in an arc shape from post to post with the peek of the arc coming to about a foot away from the six-yard box. Initially, the goalkeeper starts on one post and the coach stands about three feet away from them with a ball in hand.
The first iteration of the drill starts with the coach and goalkeeper making chest passes to each other while shuffling along the arc line. Goalkeepers should never cross over their feet, keep in a slight crouch with bent knees, and look to catch the ball firmly before releasing back. They should be encouraged initially to peak where they are to get a better idea of where their movement takes them in relation to the goal and the arc. The shuffle should be done with short choppy steps with the feet generally staying under their feet.
Next, goalkeepers should work on large shuffles. The goalkeeper starts at one of the corners of the goal and then takes larger shuffles, with each taking them the distance of roughly three of the short shuffles. Once they reach the center of the arc the coach should play a driven shot at their chest for them to save. The player throws the ball back, then short shuffles back to the other post. Then repeat going the other direction.
In the final iteration, it helps to have an additional goalkeeper, but can be done with a coach holding two balls. The drill starts with the goalkeeper on the near post making a diving save away from their post. The goalkeeper must then recover, and take large shuffles towards the middle of the arc, representing tracking the saved shot. When they reach the middle of the arc the second coach/player then plays a driven shot that the keeper then must save.
By Matt Carroll,
